At the end of every year, the student body holds an election to decide executive and grade level positions. However, after these elections, the student council (STUCO) is rarely spoken of by anyone. They meet every week, and yet, the product of these meetings is a mystery. So what is being done behind the closed doors of the student council meetings? 

What exactly does the student council do?

I have posed this question to many people, young and old, and no one has  provided a definite answer. What I’ve come to find out is that there is the perception of the student council, and then there is the truth of the student council. 

STUCO is responsible for a number of events: weekly town meetings, grade level class meetings, organizing dances, managing the founders cup contests, and organizing service events. However, to the average student, class meetings and town meetings are the only times the student council’s work is seen. 

Class meetings are a time when the grade gathers and shares important announcements; however, they are also viewed by many as a tedious activity that stands between them and their free time. “Sometimes we get announcements that we need to know, sure those are fine, but sometimes it feels like they stretch out class meetings with these activities that we don’t really want to sit through – I could be doing work or doing projects for class, but, no, I have to sit through a spelling bee,” said one anonymous student. Another student added that the class meetings “could probably be summarized in a 10 second email rather than a 20 minute meeting.” 

Despite the harsh criticism for class meetings, student’s are far more patient when they have to pack into the SPAC for town meetings. When asked how he felt about the games in town meetings, one student said, “it happens so infrequently by comparison… it’s really not that big of an issue.” 

In short, the student council is seen as irrelevant and inconvenient to the student body. 

However, it doesn’t have to be. The fact is the student council has connections most students don’t realize. Lucy Geist, the current president, has said she and Will Moskowitz (the vice president), “meet with Dr. Carter or Dr. Bludges about every week” to discuss the happenings in student life. What is said in these meetings can result in major changes to student life. How would Lucy know about each grade’s problems? When I observed a student council meeting, I found out. The meeting started with Lucy briefing the student council on general things such as town meetings, spirit week, etc. To my surprise the council proceeded to split into groups. The service leaders met in one spot, the equity and inclusion leaders in another, and the reps, vice president, class president all gathered in another corner of the room. Lucy Geist and Will Moskowitz, spoke with all the class representatives to discuss the grade level issues throughout the upper school. The information Lucy and Will receive from the class reps is exactly what they pass along to Dr. Carter and Dr. Bludgus. 

It truly is a functioning machine geared towards representing their peers; however, no one believes it is capable of doing so. I asked 10 students if they would take their problems to an adult or their class representatives, and all 10 said they would go to an adult. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation. The reasoning they gave was that they aren’t friends with the class reps, and the student council wouldn’t do anything if they did tell them.

In my research, I have found the student council has two big problems they must solve: their marketing and their efficiency. If these do not improve they will continue to have a reputation of being useless and forgettable.

STUCO should not be some secret club that elects their members and disappears into the shadows of the Science Wing. Yet, the student council is in a constant state of silence. When the Student Council does something, they go on to planning the next event rather than promoting whatever it is they just did. They should be vocal about what they do in order to satisfy the expectations of those they represent – those whom they are indebted to – regardless of whether there are any existing expectations to meet. 

Class representatives are among the most important members of the student council but are often mistaken for the least important. Worse than that, the role is often not taken seriously by those who occupy it. It is not just a problem, it is an abomination and blasphemous to the responsibility given to them by their grade. Where citizens fear corruption in governments, the student body should fear laziness in their student council. Truthfully, it doesn’t matter who becomes a class representative, but they cannot be lazy. The chain of the student council starts with the students talking to their reps; proceeds to the class representatives talking to the president; and finally the president speaks to the administrative body. If class representatives are lazy and don’t talk to their grade, this entire chain of communication is disrupted and thus the student council’s representative purpose is completely obliterated.  

The truth of the student council is that they are a surprisingly efficient, well-run branch of St. Luke’s School. This is a fact that is hidden under a pile of the many other aspects of life at St. Lukes, such as school work, classes, clubs, sports, after school activities, and more. Thus, there is a gem of a resource that goes unnoticed and disregarded. Changing this is the responsibility of the Student Council and the choice of the student body. In your vote, you are the foundation of a long chain of people that goes all the way to the Head of the School. In your vote, you decide how efficiently and effectively the student council operates. What the student council does is up to you.